Downingtown West’s 2nd-half comeback fuels OT win over Conestoga

West Goshen >> Downingtown West’s spirited second-half comeback paved the way for the Whippets’ 12-11 overtime win against District 1 3A champ Conestoga in the PIAA 3A state quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.
The Whippets trailed 9-4 at halftime, but gradually cut into the Pioneers’ lead in the second half. D-West finally caught Conestoga with 1:46 left in regulation, thanks to senior midfielder Corinne Bednarik, who whipped an 8-meter shot through the pipes to tie the score at 11-11.
Bednarik reflected on the never-say-attitude of the Whippets, who refused to be whipped despite the 9-4 deficit and an earlier 14-10 loss to Conestoga at the Katie Samson Foundation Lacrosse Festival April 27.
“At halftime, I thought our season wasn’t over yet,” said Bednarik. “We weren’t ready to be done for the season. We still have more to play.”
The Whippets received second-half encouragement from head coach Brittney Conzentino, who was on the D-West sideline Saturday after giving birth to a son (Anthony James) three weeks ago on Mother’s Day.
“I told them at halftime that we are 1,000 times better than how we were playing in the first half, and that they deserve to be here just as much as Conestoga, which is a great program,” said Conzentino. “Sometimes, when people come in against a great team like Conestoga, it gets in their head a little bit. Our girls are as good as anyone and they needed to know that.
“The key to our second half was composure, and playing our game. The biggest thing for us is the draw, and Peyton Mottice (10 draw controls) killed it today, along with our other girls. When we had our last [team huddle] before overtime, our girls were all fired up, they knew they could do it. The winning goal didn’t surprise me, but it didn’t make it any less emotional.”
D-West senior midfielder Emily Feeney, who led the Whippets with four goals (on five shots), said, “When we tied it up at 11-11, I thought, ‘I know for a fact that we’re winning this game, we’re not going home with a loss,”
Once the game went into overtime, Downingtown West ended it quickly, within 20 seconds. Mottice won the draw control, scooped up the ball, and following a series of crisp Whippet passes, D-West freshman midfielder Lauren Tinson fired home the game-winner.
“Peyton set a pick for me, and I ran off the pick, saw an opening and shot,” said a smiling Tinson. “When I released the ball I was a little [apprehensive] but when I saw it go in I started jumping up and down, hugging all my teammates, getting crushed.”
Bednarik said, “When I saw Lauren’s shot go in, I cried tears of joy. We left everything on the field today, especially coming from the prom last night, we did not let up, we did not let anything affect us.”
Feeney smiled and said, “I was right there with Lauren when she scored the winning goal, and I was like, ‘Yes Lauren, we just won, we’re not going home.’”
Mottice said, “I knew that I couldn’t lose the ball in the draw control, it was golden goal. When Lauren’s shot went in the net, I was speechless [with joy].”
The winning goal marked the first time in Saturday’s contest that Downingtown West (19-5) held the lead; and now the winning Whippets, who finished fourth in the District 1 3A tourney, will face District 1 runnerup Harriton in the PIAA 3A semifinals Tuesday at 4 p.m. at PennDot Field at West Chester Henderson High School. Harriton defeated Radnor, 13-7, in their PIAA 3A state quarterfinal; and earlier this season, the Whippets lost to Harriton 13-12, in the District 1 3A semifinals May 21.
Saturday, Conestoga scored twice in the first two minutes on goals by senior midfielder Sydney Sloan (who finished with two goals) and senior midfielder Jane Bailey. D-West bounced right back on back-to-back goals by Feeney to tie the score at 2-2 five minutes into the game.
The Pioneers held D-West scoreless for the next 18 minutes, and built a 7-2 lead, three of goals coming from sophomore midfielder Rachel Clark at 8 meters. One second before halftime, Clark fired in her fourth goal of the half, again from 8 meters.
Conestoga head coach Amy Orcutt said, “This has been a special team to coach, I’m so proud of them. We lost [All-American] Cam Evitts to a broken foot on the last regular game of the season, but the other girls stepped up, and they all worked for each other. We beat Radnor, Garnet Valley and then Harriton to win the district title.”
In the first five minutes of the second half, Mottice, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on shots on goal, scored twice to cut Conestoga’s lead to 9-6 with 20:54 left.
Feeney, who combined with Bednarik and Mottice for 10 of the Whippets’ 12 goals, scored eight minutes later to make the score 9-7 with 12:32 to play.
“I think that was the turning point,” said Bednarik. “We hadn’t scored in a while, and we started building momentum from that point on.”
Bednarik (three goals, four assists, three draw controls) scored on a Feeney assist to make it 10-8 with 9:56 left, then Tinson tallied three minutes later to make it 10-9 with 6:16 left.
Conestoga’s Rachel Clark (six goals, two assists) maneuvered through heavy traffic to score with 3:46 left, giving the Pioneers an 11-9 lead. But one minute later, Feeney returned the favor, and Bednarik’s 8-meter shot with 1:46 left tied the score at 11-11.
For Conestoga, the loss marked the end of the Pioneer career of 11 seniors, many of whom will be playing lacrosse in college, including attack Nia Scott (Louisville), midfielder Jane Bailey (Denison), midfielder Sydney Sloan (William and Mary), defender Hailey Klinger (University of Chicago), midfielder Liza Bailey (Quinnipiac) and midfielder Sarah Clark (Lafayette).
For Downingtown West, the season continues.
“We’ve been building this team since our freshman year,” said Mottice.
Feeney smiled and said, “We’re not done yet.”

Downingtown West 12, Conestoga 11
Downingtown West 4 7 1 – 12
Conestoga 9 2 0 – 11
Downingtown West goals: Bednarik 3, Mottice 3, Feeney 4, Tinson 2.
Conestoga goals: Clark 6, Sloan 2, Regan, L. Bailey, J. Bailey.
Goalie saves: DW – Clemson 1, Straus 7; CO – Centofante 7.